


Flowers from a Foreign Land

by WotanAnubis



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Crimson Flower, F/F, Fluff, Language Barrier, Slice of Life, Tourism, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22033360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WotanAnubis/pseuds/WotanAnubis
Summary: In which Edelgard goes shopping.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 4
Kudos: 130





	Flowers from a Foreign Land

**Author's Note:**

> I always have trouble coming up with titles for my fic. I had even more trouble than usual thinking up one for this one.

Edelgard found herself in an ambivalent mood as she walked along the dusty streets.

Morfis, City of Illusion! She'd heard of it, of course. That strange city ruled by magic surrounded by inhospitable deserts. She'd wondered what it would look like, how it functioned. Well, now she knew. More or less.

The buildings, at least, were... interesting. A lot of stark white walls, decorated with intricate tiled mosaics. She had no idea what any of those mosaics meant. If this had been Fódlan, no doubt they would all be glorifying the Goddess in some form or another, but Morfis was blessedly unfamiliar with the supposed arbiter of every soul. Did the mosaics depict the Gods of Morfis? Local heroes, legendary kings? Or simply the people who lived there? She had no idea. She didn't really want to know, either.

The people, though... well, they were people. Edelgard had spent a rather frustrating afternoon talking with the Council of Mages. Through interpreters, of course. The lilting, song-like language of Morfis was beautiful, but Edelgard couldn't make heads or tails out of it.

The main stumbling block was that, while Edelgard wanted Fódlan to open up to the rest of the world, the rest of the world wasn't so sure it wanted Fódlan's attention. Fódlan had always been a very insular place, obsessed with its own faith and its own politics. The outside world had always been vague dark shapes on a map of little importance, populated by savage barbarians to be guarded against.

And if that hadn't been bad enough, now Fódlan was ruled by the Red Emperor. The woman who had cut a bloody path through the continent in her efforts to unite it once more and to destroy the systems that had ruled it for so long.

Edelgard could understand why this might have made outsiders nervous. Especially people like the Morfis Council of Mages, whose right to rule stemmed from their magical powers rather than, say, their ability to rule justly and competently. They might be wondering if these talks were really about the Red Emperor looking for an excuse to invade.

As though she was eager to spill more blood. As though she took glee in slaying all who opposed her.

Still... _some_ progress had been made, at least. The Council had agreed that, perhaps, Fódlan had things Morfis wanted and certain Morfis had things to offer Fódlan. And not just trade goods, but knowledge and philosophies as well. Perhaps closer relations would benefit them both. Perhaps.

It was small, and fragile, but it was something.

And so, after a long day cooped up in a meeting room with people who hadn't been entirely certain they'd wanted her there, Edelgard had gone out to get some fresh air. Or what passed for fresh air in Morfis, where the days were baking hot and only cleared up at night.

The Emperor had wandered into this particular street more or less on a whim, drawn by the noise. It was a market street of some sort. Some things were universal, and one of them were merchants loudly praising the wares they were trying to sell. If it hadn't been for the long, colourful robes everybody wore here, and the incomprehensible words shouted by people at the tops of their lungs, she might always think herself back in Fódlan.

Edelgard idly moved among the stalls, more curious than interested in buying something. A lot of people sold food, or tea. One merchant caught her eye, and with a huge grin unrolled a bolt of beautiful fabric. The merchant said something which would doubtless translate into some sort of suggestion that the fabric would look astonishing on her and really suited her eyes. She just smiled politely and moved on.

Edelgard was just about to head back to the Palace when she stopped short in front of a stall that sold... well, metalworks. Although that seemed too crude a word for the goods on display. They were light things of intricate filigree. They had more in common with lace than anything else. Here and there, precious gems glittered alluringly.

The shopkeeper - a woman with dark hair wearing a pink shawl - smiled the knowing smile of someone eager to help a bewildered foreigner with buying something.

The merchant said something. Edelgard could only stare in return.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but do you happened to speak Adrestian?"

This time it was the shopkeeper's turn to stare. Her green eyes looked briefly worried before the smile was back and she said something, loudly and slowly.

"That's a 'no', I assume," said Edelgard mostly to herself.

The woman looked over her wares, and then pointed to a golden necklace from which hung a single, tear-shaped sapphire. She said something in a tone Edelgard could only describe as 'suggestive'.

"I'm sure it would look good on me," said Edelgard, who wasn't. "But I'm not looking for something for myself. I think... yes, I think I would like something for someone else."

The shopkeep stared at her. No doubt she knew Edelgard had tried to tell her something, but she hadn't understood any of it.

"Someone! Else!" Edelgard said.

Edelgard pointed at herself, then with both hands gestured in the empty air next to her. The merchant gave her a puzzled grin.

"I'll just look around myself, shall I?" said Edelgard.

The shopkeep said something. It meant just as much to Edelgard as her own words had probably meant to her.

It didn't take long for Edelgard to find something. It was... actually, she wasn't sure what it was. A lifetime spent on the run, getting tortured in dungeons, and plotting and eventually waging war had left her with a very limited understanding of jewellery.

It was a circlet. Perhaps. Made of silver, or something like silver. The band was carved - if that was the right word - with a pattern of intricate yet subtle leaves. And in the centre something that was unmistakably a flower. While the leaves were more suggestions in the metal, the painstakingly sculpted petals were definitely there. In the heart of the flower, a ruby glittered tastefully.

Edelgard pointed. "That one. How much is it?"

There was no way the merchant had understood her words. But there was also no way she hadn't understood her intent.

The shopkeep said something, taking care to enunciate her words carefully. She held up three fingers, then pulled down her hand, then held up five fingers.

"I'll just start counting out coins, shall I?" Edelgard said, reaching for her purse. "And then you can gesture at me when I need to stop."

* * * * *

Edelgard returned to the Council Palace in a better mood than she'd left it. The day was fading fast, and the first stars were coming out. A servant ran up to her and, in halting Adrestian, offered to return her to her rooms. Edelgard waved him away.

Like much of Morfis, the Palace was a structure of harsh white walls and beautiful mosaics. Even the guest quarters for foreign dignitaries could not escape the ever-present mosaics. Although these were either very colourful abstract patterns or displayed animals, for some reason.

Edelgard found her own rooms easily enough. It was the door opposite the mosaic of... of a... of a kind of brown, spotted dog-like animal with a long, hunched neck.

The moment she went in, Byleth jumped up from the couch where she'd been lounging. She smiled.

"You're back," she said, with enough enthusiasm that Edelgard couldn't get annoyed at her for pointing out the blatantly obvious. "Had a nice walk?"

"Pretty nice," said Edelgard. "Though next time, I think I'll take a translator along."

"You went out alone?" Byleth asked, aghast.

"Please, you know well enough I can take care of myself. Besides, nobody knows who I am around here. Nobody really knows anything about Fódlan here. Without the Imperial headdress, I'm just another tourist."

"I guess," Byleth said doubtfully.

"I just browsed the market for a bit, that's all," Edelgard said. "Speaking of which..."

But before Edelgard could open the box holding the circlet, Byleth was in front of her. Her arms wrapped around Edelgard's waist and she pulled her in for kiss.

It was such a presumptuous gesture, and dangerous. Edelgard always needed to prepare a moment or two before any kind of intimacy. Otherwise she might become too overwhelmed, panic, and flee. She wasn't proud of it, but she couldn't help it.

Still, here and now, in this twilit room, in this foreign city where nobody knew anything about the Goddess or the Crests and wouldn't care if they did know, the feeling almost wasn't there. Almost. Some part of her, the part that had helped her survive the experiments down in the cells where the sun never shone, didn't want anyone touching her ever again. Couldn't tell an embrace from a chokehold.

Edelgard breathed out slowly, carefully, when Byleth pulled away. She found she was trembling ever so slightly, though why or with what, she couldn't quite tell.

"I, uh... I bought you something," she mumbled.

"Really? Thank you," said Byleth. "However..."

"Yes?"

"Can we get something to eat first? I'm starving."

"Oh," Edelgard giggled. "Yes, I... I suppose it's about that time."

Byleth kissed her again. "Don't worry. I'm sure I'll love it."

"You don't even know what it is," said Edelgard.

"Of course I do," said Byleth, smiling. "It's something you choose for me."


End file.
